That request confuses me. You finally figured out how to set up a data mask but now you don't want the data mask? If you don't want the mask, why not just leave out the auto-enter calculation that inserts the mask?

I want to keep the masking (forever)- but I don't want to see "(###) ###-####" every time I start a new record. I want it to appear blank until I type numbers into that field. Then when I click out- it would be properly formatted.